Sunday, August 16, 2009

Last night was AMAZING. One of the most fantastical quiver inducing nights I have had in quite a while. Sigh. My equally amazing (but not quite as swoony - sorry hon!) friend Nicole had stealthily managed to secure us floor tickets to the first of two King of Leon concerts here in Vancity.

As I have said on multiple occasions, I have a deep and passionate musical love for the Kings of Leon. Caleb Followill owns my musical heart. His voice sears into my soul. I could go on......

Anyways, last night was finally the night. We made out way onto the floor at GM Place just After the opening band had finished and ended up pretty close to the stage - 10-15 people back. Caleb could almost sweat on us. The people around us were pretty good - not too hammered, not too obnoxious. The crowd in general was an eclectic mix. All age ranges, rockers, hipsters, and even a few goth people were in attendance. I noticed a few chicks in flip-flops - which on the floor is probably not the smartest idea.... one girl was even barefoot.... which.... ewww. Many of the girls (including Nicole and I) are in total lust with Caleb. And some (not Nicole and I) were definitely dressed to be noticed..... as if they thought that he would see their cleavage across the crowd, dump his model girlfriend and fall in love with them instead. Silly rabbits.

The concert was amazing and fantastical and awesome. They had the crowd in the palm of their sweaty Southern hands. The setlist was a great mix of old and new material. I have had all four albums on repeat for the past month or so in anticipation of last night, so I knew every song. I wish they had played Revelry & Day Old Blues (two of my fave songs), but I was happy overall with the songs they played. As was the whole crowd. The band seemed a little stunned that we knew the words to each and every song they played.

Being so close had it's advantages, You could see things that those in the real seats probably missed. Being packed in like sardines and sweated on by strangers, not so much with the fun. But seeing Caleb rip out his ear piece during Bucket when there seemed to be a problem was pretty cool. And even with the ear piece gone, and no technical assistance, he sounded fantastic.

They all sounded great. Matthew (lead guitar) not only had a fan blowing his hair around in true rockstar fashion, he was also backlit with a huge spotlight during most songs. And the cigarette dangling out of his mouth during much of the show only added to his Rockstar image. Loved it.

I found it very amusing that during Sex on Fire Caleb and drummer Nathan were completely transfixed by the two set of enormous fake boobs on the trashy cougarishblond's who were hoisted up on their "dates" shoulders. It was adorable how their eyes kept shifting over during the song, and how Caleb looked at Nathan as if to say "are you seeing this?". Seriously, I thought he was gonna forget the words to the song......"Distracting, but awesome" was how he described the bevy of girls on people's shoulders.

Caleb was the only one who spoke the the enthralled crowd. He seemed humbled by the love pouring from us all, saying that he never had "any idea [he] would have so much fun in Canada". The minimal staging made the whole setting very intimate. It felt like we were at the Commodore or Dicks on Dicks (sadness.....RIP to Richards on Richards), rather than GM Place. Totally felt like a club gig - and Caleb commented on that as well.

Admittedly hung-over, Caleb indulged in a little hair of the dog. Following every shot of booze with a shot of Gatorade. So adorable.

Oh yes, as I suspected, the cast of Eclipse were also in attendance at the concert last night. From these pics, everyone is going to have Robert & Kristen married in a few days. Funny that there is not one photo of them actually kissing or doing anything other than talking to a friend at a loud concert.

But last night was not about Rob and Kristen. Last night was about Caleb and the Kings of Leon. They were fantastic and amazing. True rock gods who revelled in the love that poured out of the crowd. We all worshiped at the Church of Caleb last night, and I only wish I was going back again tonight for their second show.

Kudos to Nicole for getting many of these fantastic shots. I am not so good with the steady hands ;)